The PGA Tour is putting on hold its qualification criteria for eligibility, meaning that golfers who are exempt this season and fall outside of the top 125 FedEx Cup points earners will not lose their spot in the 2020-21 season.
The move was made in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused the PGA Tour to be out of action since the Players Championship was canceled on March 12.
The tour has a revised scheduled that is due to begin June 11 at the Charles Schwab Challenge and runs through the Tour Championship on Sept. 7.
Typically, the cutoff for retaining exempt status would be at the conclusion of the Wyndham Championship, which is now scheduled for Aug. 13-16. The top 125 players in FedEx Cup points advance to the playoff series, while those outside of the top 125 who are not exempt in some other way lose their exemption status for the next season.
Those who finish 126th to 200th in points would normally join the top 75 finishers on the Korn Ferry Tour for a series of events to determine 50 players who would gain exempt status for the following season on the PGA Tour. That series is being scrapped, and the Korn Ferry will reward its top 10 with limited status on the PGA Tour next season.
“This eligibility update, contingent upon the planned restart of the season at the Charles Schwab Challenge the week of June 8, was deemed the best and most equitable solution for the membership at large after research by our competitions department and significant conversations with the Policy Board and Player Advisory Board,” the PGA Tour said in a statement.
The move also means there will not be a Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament this fall. The developmental tour, which is also scheduled to return June 11 with an event at the TPC Sawgrass Valley Course, will give the top 10 from its season-long money list limited status on the 2020-21 PGA Tour, with spots mostly in opposite events and lesser tournaments.
For amateurs looking to turn pro, or for pros not eligible for the Korn Ferry Tour now, there will be no direct access to the circuit for the 2020-21 season.
No details were released on how the other feeder tours would be affected.